IN DEFENSE OF ENGINEERS

This article emphasizes the importance of engineering and engineering education in modern life, and attempts to show the relationship between engineering and the liberal arts. It shows how engineering systems can be divided into two complementary types: networks and processes. Science is discovery, and engineering is design. Engineering is practically oriented but is not a technique. The difference between science and engineering is pointed out. The emphasis on practice links engineering to the social sciences. Engineering is linked to natural science through its techniques of analysis, but it parallels the study of economics. A product of engineering's concern with the public weal is the cost-benefit analysis. Engineering comes closest to the realization of the civic ideal in massive public works such as the Hoover Dam. The Swiss structural engineer, R. Maillart's contribution to the engineering aesthetic is noted.

• Record URL:
  • https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trnews/trnews127-001.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/07386826
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

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  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Billington, D P
• Publication Date: 1986-11

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: p. 3-8
• Serial:
  • TR News
  • Issue Number: 127
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0738-6826
  • Serial URL: https://doi.org/10.17226/895

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Design; Education; Engineering; Engineers; Networks; Science; Social sciences
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Design; Highways; Public Transportation; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00462252
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 28 2004 4:47AM